Trilby's Notes, On The Deofe Incident
by Dr. Psycho
Summary: A notorious thief, Trilby finds himself trapped in a mysterious house, and he must find out how to escape. To do this, he will receive help from a few others, that are as suspicious as he is. In this rewrite of 5 Days A Stranger, we will see new elements while keeping the basic plot line the same. Update of previous fic, no longer a crossover, and complete. (One-Shot.)


I've just started renovating Defoe Manor, some places still need to be worked on, but my master bedroom, along with my wife, have moved in. It's great to have proven that i belong to a wealthy family. My mother had told me her late Grandmother's last name was Defoe, but I never knew it belonged to the same wealthy family that mysteriously disappeared a century ago! I'm guessing they disappeared with my family, or my great Grandmother wanted to hide her ties to the Defoe family name, but I don't understand the reason. Who wouldn't want to be swimming in cash?

I lie in the king-sized bed with my wife, when I feel ice cold tapping on my face. It felt like a snowman was breathing on me. I looked up to see a teenaged boy, he looked like he had just come out of war. HIs body was severely beaten, and his eyes appeared to be blood red. I tried to shake my wife awake, but my hand pushed into thin air. I deduced that she probably left while I was sleeping. I felt helpless staring into the eyes of this horrid looking ghost. The supernatural was my biggest phobia, I trembled like a sewing lady's needle.

"What do you want?" I am barely able to say, due to the fear taking over my mind. The ghost didn't respond, it just stared, his eyes locked onto me. Suddenly, the ghost disappeared, leaving behind an eerie fog. "Elise!" I called for my wife, hoping she could calm me down, after what just transpired.

She entered the room looking down, I couldn't see her face, "Could you turn the light on?" I asked. She didn't move, her body was like a statue. "Are you okay, did you see it too?" I asked again, but still no response. Her head slowly lifted up, her eyes blood-red. She revealed a machete in her hand, and she lifted it up to me. I could only scream before the machete came down.

The case of the murder of the last heir to the Defoe family was a mystery that no detective could solve. Henry Defoe was found dead in the bed he and his wife, Elise shared. Elise was a gruesome sight, hanging lifeless by her neck in a tree outside the manor. In court, the case was ruled out as a homicide/suicide, with Elise being the perpetrator. When the court ended, the police who investigated the crime were cleared out of the area. The house remained empty, with nobody inside.

Empty houses were my favorite, it was nearly impossible to get caught for robbing those. I was a cat burglar, my name was Trilby. I prefer to leave my first name shrouded in mystery. As a name, Trilby suffices. I'm the criminal that was notorious for being involved in the Defoe incident. When I drove to the manor that was far off from any other town, I was only interested in making profit, not to get involved with the supernatural.

I parked my car in front of the manor, and left my lock picks in my car. I did however, slip one lock pick and a few matches into my tie, for safe keeping. I steadily walked up to the front door, my feet not making a sound as they hit the ground. I had trained myself to move silently, I could probably sneak into Buckingham Palace if I wanted to. Boasting aside, I entered through the front door, that was surprisingly unlocked. This place was supposed to be under lock and key. I walked inside, closed the door, and began examining the area for things I could make a profit off of. i had no idea that the door would not open again.

I first entered went through the doorway to my right, there was a dining room. The table was long and rectangular, and victorian chairs were place evenly around it. The chandelier was embroidered with rubies and sapphires, and the room was well lit. I noticed a door at the other side of the room, it had a golden knob and was delicately designed. I went through the door, and found a kitchen. There was new a new stove and refrigerator. This room certainly wasn't as elegant as the dining room. I thought that it was a possibility that servants of the manor worked in this room, and the house was likely not renovated carefully. There was a door at the back of the room, this door, like the rest of the room, was not made with utmost care. I wrapped my hand around the squeaky knob, and opened the door. This door led to the backyard of the manor.

The backyard was filled with fine rose bushes, the grass was pure green. Sprinklers surrounded the garden. A large stone wall surrounded the back yard, and many holes were dug up in the back. A deep water fountain was positioned in the middle of the garden, with a statue of an angel in the middle. The angel gave me a vibe of good fortune. I noticed a shed in the back. I decided to look at it while I was exploring the place. I walked up to the shed's door, and tried to open it. Unfortunately, it wouldn't open. Whoever locked up the house, must not have had his priorities straight, I thought. The front door was open, but a measly shed in the back was not.

I made my way to the back of the area, where all of the holes were. Whoever dug these holes, must have been intent on finding something. I could hear deep grunts, as if they came from a human. It became apparent that I might not be the only person here. I had just noticed that dirt was being tossed up from a hole not far from me. "Is anyone there?" I ask, hoping I wouldn't get a response. "Shut up, AJ. I'm busy right now," An aggravated voice came from the hole. "My name is not AJ, I responded, "maybe you could come out of that hole, and you can introduce yourself to me."

The man climbed out of the hole, he had a look of annoyance on his face. "It's about time you showed up here," He said arrogantly, "I've been waiting for you to show up for too long!" He was wearing brown jeans and a white shirt that was mostly covered up by a leather jacket. "What do you mean?" I asked, a bit confused by what the man had said. "You are the owner of this place, right?" He asked, his eyes fixed on me. "No sir, I am not." I told him. "How did you get in? Is your way in still open?" He asked in an annoyed tone. "I came in through the front door, that was unlocked," I was starting to think this man may have gone off his rocker. He darted for the house, rudely bumping into me on his way. I had nothing better to do, so I followed him, to possibly see why he had darted off, of course.

I had come into the dining room from the run-down kitchen, to hear the man yelling, I could make out a feminine voice too. "This bloody door was unlocked, that new guy said so!" I came into the room where the front door was situated to see the strange man from before, and a blonde woman, who looked familiar. "Philip, calm down! The police will come here eventually!" She yelled at him. "Don't you get it? The police aren't coming, we've been here for a week! We're going to be in here for the rest of our lives!" I was confused, how could the front door be opened, and then closed again? "Please Philip, calm down. We'll figure this out," came an elderly voice. A man with a mustache entered the room. "Fine!" Philip, that's what I was guessing his name was, stormed off. He went to the doorway that I had not yet explored.

The two strangers turned towards me, "I'm sorry about that," said the woman, "Philip just, has anger issues." Philip's actions were evidence to what the woman had said. "How about we introduce ourselves?" The man said, his voice matched the elderly voice I had heard earlier. "My name's AJ, nothing interesting about me to note," He said. I felt a suspicion to him. A feeling that he may be a bad seed. However, I discarded the silly thought. "My name is Simone," the woman said, "you may recognise me from the telly." I realized that she was the news reporter from the BBC, Simone Taylor. "You are?" AJ asked. "If you must know, my name is Trilby," I answered. "Trilby, as in the cat burglar? I did a documentary on you once," Simone said. "I'm certainly grateful that you have made me a bit of a celebrity." I responded. "I think I might as well tell you about the others," AJ said, "We have a lad here that is sixteen years of age, and you've met Philip already." This was strange, I thought this place was empty. "I think we need to have a meeting," Simone said.

Later that day, four of us gathered into the room on the first floor that I had not yet explored. There was a fireplace that kept us warm, and several framed pictures of Sir Roderick Defoe on the walls. Sir Roderick was the man that made his family name famous. With his father's wealth, he went on many adventures. One picture depicted the mad holding an Elephant tusk, another showed him standing next to a deceased lion. He had a smile on his face, and wielded a large gun in his even went across continents to kill animals, I thought. What stood out the most was a large musket, in the center of the pictures. It matched up with the one Roderick held in many of the photos.A teenaged boy, who I assumed was Jim, sat in a rocking chair. Philip and Simone sat near where I stood on a fine couch.

"Where's AJ?" The boy asked. "I'm unsure. I was hoping he would be here. He said he found some info about this place." Simone answered. I looked at the three people in the room. Jim was rocking back and forth in the chair, He seemed content. Simone had an anxious feeling to her, as if she were worried about the elderly man. Philip just had a smug look on his face. On a small wooden table, an ugly idol sat. It was covered by a bell jar, and it looked like it portrayed an African deity. "We must unfortunately begin this meeting, without AJ," I said. I didn't want to prolong this, I wanted to find out what was going on. "So what are we going to talk about?" Philip said, he sounded as annoyed as usual. "Let's start with how we all got here, and why we can't leave," I answered Philip, staying calm. "If we're going to discuss that, I'll go first," Simone said to the group.

"The network decided that coverage on Defoe manor would attract ratings. I came to the manor early, because I was excited to explore it. I entered through the front door, just as you did. After I looked at every room, except for the locked doors upstairs, I came back to the front door to find it closed. The bloody thing didn't have a handle, knob, or anything else. It wouldn't budge. I am the only person to blame for me being trapped in here." Simone seemed to be innocent, like she didn't deserve to be here. As for me, I deserved to be trapped here, I only came to rob.

"I suppose I'll go next," Jim said, "My reason for being here is stupid, really. I go to a boarding school not too far from here. My friend, Richard, dared me to go inside the house. The door was shut, so I climbed in through an open window. When I tried to leave, I saw that the window was jammed shut." Jim was also innocent, he shouldn't be stuck here either.

"If nobody wants to go, than I think I'll be going next.," Philip said rudely, "I came here to dig in the backyard," Philip explained. "I don't believe you were allowed to do this, were you?" Simone asked. "Shut up, I was talking. Anyways, I was out digging in the yard. I was looking for the Defoe tomb," Philip spoke clearly. "Defoe tomb?" Jim spoke up, "what is that?" I had never heard of this tomb myself. "It's the tomb Roderick and Matthew Defoe are said to be buried in. Now, stop the interruptions, or I'm not going to finish my story." Nobody spoke. "I was out digging when that bloke, AJ, ran up to me and asked me who I was. We talked for a while and stayed in the house for two days. That's when Simone showed up. Jim and Trilby followed her.

"I guess I must explain my story as well. I'm simply a cat burglar. I came here to make a profit off of the mansion. I saw Philip in the backyard, and that's it. There's not much about me that you need to know."

"I'm glad that you're so open to share with us. Just like AJ, you're determined on not telling us anything," Philip scoffed. "Shut up, Philip. Trilby, we respect that you don't want to tell us much," Simone said in my defence. "I suppose this is the end of our meeting?" I asked the group. "Well, do we have anything else to talk about?" Philip asked arrogantly. The answer to Philip's question, was no. That night, I slept on the couch, inside the meeting room. Nightmares plagued me.

I woke up to the sound of blood splattering on the floor. I worriedly ran into the main room, where a tall man, wielding a bloody machete stood. He wore a welder's mask, and a vest. On the floor, the bloodied bodies of Jim, Philip, and Simone lied dead. The mysterious killer walked towards me. "Stay back!" I yelled as I reached for a doorknob. The killer was still for a moment, his gaze on me was uninterrupted. She reached for his mask, and pulled it off. The killer's face, was the same as my own. I soon woke up.

I woke up panting, still flustered by the dream I had. The wooden idol I noticed yesterday, was knocked off of the table it once sat on. The bell jar was also shattered on the ground. I paid no mind to the mess, it wasn't worth my time to clean it. When I no longer felt groggy, I stood up and left the room. I noticed the stairs that I didn't explore yesterday, so I leisurely walked up them. I found an elegantly designed hall. The flooring was fine marble, with colorful gems spaced out in a pattern. The chandelier to the room was diamond encrusted, and unlike the dining room, this chandler didn't illuminate the room well. I noticed one of the many doors were wide open. I knew I needed to shut it, that was the gentlemanly thing to do. I almost closed it, before I saw Jim in the room. "Have you seen AJ?" I asked him. "No Mr. Trilby, I have not," Jim answered after he respectfully put his book. down. "When was the last time you saw him?" I asked, trying to get all the information I could. "Before our meeting, I saw him go outside," Jim answered. I nodded, and walked to the backyard.

When I made it outside, I noticed that pool was had mud impressions of the bottom of shoes. I could also see Philip in the backyard, digging. Digging seemed to be his pastime. I walked over to him, I noticed that he had a metal detector next to his hole. "So Philip, have you been able to dig under that wall?" I asked him, trying to sound casual. "What do you think my first instinct was? To did for the tomb, rather than escape?" He asked as if the question was obvious. I was angry with him, but I remained calm. "Have you seen AJ?" Philip turned away from digging, "As far as I'm concerned, the bloke is a traitor. He probably found a way out of here without saying anything. While you still have my attention, is there anything else you'd like to ask?" He said. "I would like to use your metal detector," I answered him. "Go ahead, take it. I don't think the bloody tomb is here anyways."

I grabbed the metal detector and walked towards the pool. I didn't know why I needed it, I just felt like it would come in handy. I was right, too. The thing started beeping like crazy when I was a few feet's distance from the pool. Philip heard the beeping, and he ran over to where I was standing. He pushed me out of the way and started digging.

Philip stopped digging immediately when he found out that the only thing that was hidden in the ground was a button. "I'm done with this, I'm going inside to relax." Philip said before walking to the backyard door. I curiously pressed the button, I needed to know what it did. The pool behind me started making a noise, a draining noise. "Philp!" I called as I looked down at the lowering water. Philip came back to the pool, "Great, look what you did now!" Philip commented at the water draining. I could make out a figure in the water, it was oddly shaped as if it were human. The water was completely gone now, and I was right. The figure was a human, AJ to be exact.

I stood still, AJ's death had been a shock for me. Philip ran inside to presumably spread the news of the discover of AJ's body. Soon the three came outside. Jim had a glum expression on his face, while Simone was crying hysterically. Philip just looked at me, as if I were suspicious.

Later that night, we had another meeting. The meeting was called to discuss recent events. AJ's death was a key event, as you would guess. "AJ was just lifeless, his skin was pale. It was as if he'd seen a ghost," Jim said, looking down. I caught my eyes looking at the strange idol in the floor. It seemed important, but I didn't know exactly how. It's ugly eyes stared at me, and I stared back. I quickly turned my gaze back to the group. "So our main suspect is Trilby, right?" Philip asked the group. "Heavens, no," Simone replied. "He has to be. He just showed up, and now somebody's dead. Doesn't that make him a little suspicious?" Philip argued. "For now, we need to assume that we are all innocent," Simone declared, "this house is strange, like it's haunted." Philip didn't hesitate to reply, "Haunted? that's good! If anyone needs me, I'll be in the dining room. By the way, you better not need me!" He exclaimed as he slammed the door shut.

"Jim, I think you should go. Trilby and I need to discuss something. The boy nodded and left the room. "You don't think i'm crazy, do you? This house is surely haunted." Simone spoke. I understood why she made Jim leave, she didn't want to seem crazy to him. "I agree, Simone. I think there is a supernatural force at work, here." Simone looked like I had told her she won 1000 pounds. "Yes, that must be it. How else could we have been trapped here?" The two of us soon stopped discussing our theory for the night, and we both went to sleep. The image of AJ lying in the pool haunted my thoughts.

I woke up in the dining room, Philip lied in front of me. I held a machete in my hand, and I brought it down upon him multiple times. Blood splattered all around me, but I was not stained because of my welders mask and vest. I left the room, and then I woke up, for real this time.

I was once again panting on the couch. I was really getting tired of these nightmares. I went into the dining room, just to make sure my dream wasn't reality. Philip sat in the room, studying a map of the manor. He was most likely trying to find a way out, and frankly, I didn't want to talk to him. I continued on to the kitchen, then out the backdoor. I came for the metal detector, but my car somehow sat in the yard. It was parked over several bushes, next to the fountain. The statue on the fountain was also missing it's head. My car's windshield was broken, I peered inside to find the angel's head. I grabbed my lock picks and pickaxe out of their secret compartments from the driver's side door. It was good to have them, like it was good to have the metal detector.

I returned inside, my intentions were to explore the upper floor. I knew it was best to explore the manor the best I could, maybe learn more about it. I entered the room I saw Jim in earlier. He was gone, and I didn't know where he went. I decided not to fret over it, surely this supposed ghost wouldn't think killing Jim is worth his time. I realized this room was a library. There were rows and rows of bookcases, and Several dusty books were packed into the shelves. One bookshelf near the door was labeled Roderick's favorites. I inferred that Roderick took in interest in literature, and later settled down to create this library.

Out of the 50 estimated books in the shelf, one stood out to me. It was titled Useful Black Magic. I knew I probably wouldn't use it, but I picked it up anyway. Once I had explored the rest of the room, I left for the main hall. I noticed four other rooms, I made exploring them my objective.

I entered one room, it was a fancy office with a fine wood desk. There was a painting of a beautiful woman, titled Belinda hanging on the wall. There was nothing else that stood out to me, so I left. I made sure the door didn't close loudly behind me.

I entered another door, it looked to be a moderate sized bedroom. A fine bed, with velvet red blankets was situated near me. A window looking out upon the garden. It would probably be a pretty sight if my car weren't out there. Next to the bed was a drawer, i opened it and grabbed a book. The book was a diary, belonging to Matthew Defoe. I was fairly curious, so I took a look inside.

Here I will list notable pages from the diary.

April 1, 1814. "Today I spoke with the boy behind the kitchen wall. I asked my nanny about it, but she said she didn't know what I was talking about. She works in the kitchen all the time, it seems rather odd to me that she can't hear him. Father says that the boy behind the wall is all my imagination, but I'm not sure if I should believe him."

September 7, 1821. "Today, father and I went hunting. I didn't particularly like it, I'd rather spend my time doing something else. I'm not sure what, however."

November 14, 1821. "I think I finally have found what my calling is. Painting, and literature. I think I can use father's library to improve my writing skills."

March 21, 1822. "Painting is something that I've found to be wonderful. I'll never get tired of it, I just wish father could see it's beauty."

July 28. 1825. "Today is my eighteenth birthday, and I'm very excited. I showed father one of my works, and he seemed to really like it. Although father does seem angry, but that's how he usually is on this day. I suppose I'll never know why." That was the last entry.

I put the diary in my pocket and continued to explore. One of the doors lead to a bathroom. You could clearly see your own reflection on the floor. Everything seemed to have been waxed. A modern day rug was on the floor. There was a complete set of bathroom appliances. A toilet, sink, and a shower. The room wasn't particularly interesting, so I turned away, and exited the room.

The last room in the second floor, was a master bedroom. The bed was like the bedroom before, but it was fit for two. A painting was hung on the wall, it depictedRoderick and and the same woman I'd seen in a painting earlier, smiling happily. Like before there was a diary in the drawer.

Just as before, I will list diary entries that stood out to me.

January 7, 1806. I've gone on many adventures. My father has died, and I have gained his wealth. Belinda seems to be happy about the idea of settling down. Our marriage is carefully being planned.

February 9, 1806. Belinda and I have been happily married, and we are comfortable living in our mansion. I've hung a painting of us shortly after our marriage in our room. It will serve as a constant reminder of our love that will never die.

October 31, 1806. Things are still going well, Belinda and I have bought indentured servants to take care of the child we are expecting.

July 8th, 1807. Matthew was born today, but Belinda… died. She died in labor, but matthew is not to blame. The blame goes to something horrible.

March 14, 1822. I'm disappointed that Matthew would rather paint than adventure, there's no excitement in that. The lad's good at it, but I still find it quite disappointing.

July 28, 1825. Today is the anniversary of the day I brought something wicked into this world. I'm ashamed to be a part of creating it. Today, I will take it out, for good.

That was the final entry.

I noticed that both diaries ended on the same day, July 28th. Or Matthew Defoe's birthday. An oddity really. I wondered what exactly went down in Defoe manor. I stuffed the diary into my pocket and went back down to the first floor. I had full intentions to find out what Matthew meant when he wrote about the 'boy behind the kitchen wall.' I didn't make eye-contact with Philip, who had the map of the manor spread out on the table, as I passed him. He must've been hopelessly trying to find a way out.

I started tapping on the walls with my pickaxe to see if I could notice a difference in sound. One area of the wall sounded notably different, and I picked it away. The old wall collapsed easily. I looked through the doorway to find stone stairs leading down. I took a match out of my tie and lit it to help see, it was rather dark. The stairs led to a horrid sight. A basement with chains and whips everywhere, blood stains on the walls. Most splatters of blood were in the corner of the room, near a body lock that could hold a person. There was wood flooring that looked easy to break, and plain grey stone walls. I noticed a spot that wasn't covered by wood, I used my pickaxe to dig it up. I found the bodies of a man, and a younger male. Possibly Roderick and Matthew.

I returned to the meeting room, I needed to think about all of the things I had discovered that day. This mansion's lore was overwhelming, and I wondered what happened to Roderick and Matthew. They were both dead, in a torture room. I wondered why Roderick would turn his basement into a torture room, and why we were even stuck here in the first place. It was illogical, the doors won't open, the windows are jammed shut. I noticed the wooden idol on the ground, staring at me. I decided to clean up the mess. It was the gentlemanly thing to do, I put all of the glass into a trash can from another room. Then, I placed the idol back on its pedestal.

I stabbed Philip mercilessly. His blood was all over the dining room floor. I crouched down over his body, to make sure he was dead. I continued to stab him. I was doing so when someone hit my head from behind.

I awoke inside a room that wasn't familiar to me. I wondered what was going on. Was one of my nightmares real for once? "Where am I?" I asked no one in particular, I was just hoping to get a response. "You're in the shed," came Simone's voice. "Why am I in here?" I asked, genuinely puzzled. "Don't play stupid, Trilby. I know you're not an idiot," Simone responded rather coldly. "I don't know why I'm in here, honestly. "You don't remember viciously murdering Philip?" Simone said. "I suppose you don't remember killing AJ either." So the dream was real, but I had no memory of getting a machete. "Simone, this is all a ghost, remember?" Simone didn't answer. "Simone?" I asked, trying to make sure she was still there. "Shut up, I'm not talking to a murderer, you killed them. Once I started to believe in the haunted house theory, you started killing. You're using it as an excuse!"

There was no reasoning with her, so I decided to escape on my own terms. I reached from my pick locks, but everything I owned was gone. My pickaxe, matches, lock picks, and books were gone. Even my tie was taken, which had spare lock picks inside it. "Simone, where's my tie?" I asked. "I took it, I did a documentary on you, I know your tricks. You hide matches and lock picks in your tie."

I tried reasoning with her again, "Simone, I was possessed. Please believe me." She was silent again, I figured she was refusing to talk to me. "It's that idol, it has the power to posses." She still remained silent. "Now that I think about it, where's Jim? He's in danger of touching it." I was genuinely worried about him. I had a hunch that that idol had something to do with all of this. There was still no response.

I realized that I was the only person that could free myself. I looked at the tools in the shed, there were some wires hanging on a wall. Being skilled at making lockpicks, I had a makeshift pick ready in no time. There weren't as efficient as my usual picks, but they got the job done.

I left the shed. Simone was no longer in front of the shed, all I could see was the garden. I went back inside the manor, and up to the second floor. After walking to the library, Simone ran up the stairs. "Trilby, follow me!" She ordered as she ran by. Jim walked up the stairs, he was wearing the welders mask and vest. He also firmly grasped the bloody machete in his hand. I followed Simone as she ran. We both went inside the bathroom and locked the door tight.

Inside the bathroom, we stood on the rug. "Now do you believe that I didn't do it?" I asked. "Yes I do. I saw Jim touch that wretched idol, and then he just turned into a vegetable. His eyes were blood red and they looked like you could swim in them!" Jim's eyes were hiddem by the welder's mask, so I didn't know how to reply. "This is a demon with a thirst for blood doing this…" I said.

The bathroom door burst open, a possessed Jim walked towards us, as we moved back. "Trilby do something!" Simone exclaimed, hysterically. We both stepped off of the rug, and I pulled it up as Jim stepped onto it. Jim smashed his head on the floor, and was knocked out. "Oh my God Jim!" Simone ran over to Kim. "Help me carry him to the one of the bedrooms," She said. I helped immediately.

After laying Jim down in a bed, Simone and I discussed things in the hall. "I'm sorry about locking you in the shed, I was just scared," Simone apoligised. It didn't matter now, and I did understand her reasons. "That's water under the bridge," I replied. "While we are talking, I want to discuss my theory of what's going on." She wanted to talk, and I had my own thoughts on things as well. "Sure, did you read the diaries you took from me?" I asked. "Yes, I did. They have provided evidence to support my theory, about the haunting," Simone answered. "I would like to hear it."

"I think Belinda, Roderick's wife, died giving birth. This theory would only make sense if..." Simone seemed unsure of her theory. "Belinda bore twins?" I tried to finish for her. "Exactly!" Simone exclaimed. "The second twin killed Belinda, not Matthew." Simone had said exactly what I was thinking. "As punishment, Roderick tortured his second second son it the attic, without Matthew knowing it." Simone smiled, "Right, I also read the book on black magic that you had, I think it has a solution." I wanted to get out of the mansion more than anything, so I naturally listened to what she had to say. "It has a spell in it that can destroy any demon," Simone explained, "We just need it's body and soul." We didn't know where the body was, but we had an idea of where the soul was. "The soul must be the idol," I said. "I completely agree with you, and I believe the body is in the basement that you found, near Roderick and Matthew," Simone replied. "I'll need my pickaxe back."

I returned to the basement, another match lit to help myself see. The room was the same as I had seen it before, horrifying. My first gues as to the location of the body, was the bloody corner of the room. I picked through the the easy to break wood, and dug into the ground. I was right, a contorted skeleton is what I found, it had to belong to the wraith. Normally I wouldn't touch it, but I had to, even if it was grotesque.

I walked back to the meeting room, not even glancing at Philip's body. There, Simone had laid out candles in a circular pattern. I placed the old body in the center of the candles. I instucted Simone to wait while I checked on Jim, and reminded her not to lay a finger on the idol.

I enter Jim's room, he was sitting up on the bed. "How are you feeling, Jim?" I asked. "I'm fine, Mr. Trilby," Jim replied. "I need you in the meeting room,": I said. "We're not discussing what I did, are we? I swear I had no control of myself," Jim said worriedly. "No, we're getting out of here, come join us as soon as possible," I said as I closed the door.

"Jim will be joining us in a moment," I told Simone as I entered the room. I put on a glove and picked up the idol. I put it next to the bones. "We'll need to include these," Simone said as she placed the machete, the welders helmet, and the welders vest in the circle. I nodded and picked up the musket. "Hold this, I instructed Simone. "Okay," she replied as she help the heavy gun. Jim then entered the room, "I'm going to read from the book. Jim, you stand straight across the circle from Simone," I instructed.

I began reading the words from the book loudly and clearly. "Today, this wraith shall rise. It's life force will return, making it vulnerable to attacks. We will put it to sleep, and completely destroy it." I read, "Hezberek et morine… gost wenthen verbis nex… ind orbium, bis perndrule… paran sic cortis rex!"

The body rose, it had put on the welders mask and shield, and held the machete. "Matthew, this vile creation must be destroyed!" Simone exclaimed. "Father, please. You mustn't!" Jim yelled back. The wraith stood still, it did not move an inch. It seemed as if it were afraid. "Get back Matthew!" Simone yelled as she fired the gun into the standing skeleton. The wraith disappeared, and the house mysteriously caught on fire. "We have to get out of here!" Jim yelled. Fire filled the room, and it seemed to be trapping us in the room. The three of us darted out of the meeting room, and to the front room. The front door was now wide open, and the three of us immediately ran through the new exit. We were finally free.

Simone and Jim ran up a hill, and stopped to catch their breath. The two of them began to pant beside each other, hands on their knees. Simone looked up, and she noticed that I was no longer by her side. "Trilby!" She called out, but I didn't answer. I was watching the two from a distance, making sure the two were okay. The truth was, I didn't trust myself with Simone, her being a news reporter. It pains me to leave her and JIm, to let them think I'm dead, but I had to. If the authorities were to catch me, I would be imprisoned for years. "Trilby!" Simone called again. I still did not answer. Simone shook her head and walked away, Jim by her side.

In the end, I continued my life of theft. Defoe Manor was always on my mind, but burgling was the only job I knew how to do. I would however, get a chance to redeem myself in the future, but that's another story. Simone did a report on her experience in the mansion, but most didn't believe it. Including the well-known Trilby in the story didn't make it anymore credible. Jim attempted to return to his boarding school, but was expelled. A bright future in tatters. Simone was still popular, but I heard she developed a depression disorder. Defoe Manor was burnt to the ground, and very little of it could be saved Among things saved, was the dreaded idol. It would certainly cause problems in the future.


End file.
